


Strategic Games

by Aishuu



Series: The Reluctant Hokage [17]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hokage Uchiha Itachi, Politics, gritty ninja world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25213222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aishuu/pseuds/Aishuu
Summary: The day of the Chuunin exam arrives, but that’s not the main topic of conversation in the Nara household. Shikamaru and his father discuss the political playing board of Konoha following a visit from Tsunade.
Series: The Reluctant Hokage [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/156539
Comments: 23
Kudos: 54





	Strategic Games

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the amazing [Sophia Prester](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophia_Prester/pseuds/Sophia_Prester) for hanging in with me and serving as beta as usual. I'm trying to get my writing groove back!

The only reason Shikamaru doesn’t “accidentally” oversleep on the day of the first Chuunin exam is that Ino would kill him.

And his mother wouldn’t be much better.

And he is the Nara heir, despite his disdain for anything resembling work, and he does have pride in his clan.

And he doesn’t want to disappoint Asuma-sensei.

And…

Shikamaru has many reasons on why he must go, but that doesn’t mean he has to like it. Genin die in the exams, and Shikamaru thinks his team is too green to compete against actual adults. He would be content to wait another year (or five), but he isn’t going to be the weak link.

At least this exam is in Konoha. He’s heard _stories_ of what happened the one time the other villages let it be held in Hidden Mist.

He sits at the breakfast table with his parents, eating his mother’s cooking. Nara Yoshino rarely prepares breakfast (since both her son and husband’s chronic tardiness make it impossible to plan), but today there is a spread befitting a holiday. Shikamaru tries very hard not to think about how it could be his last meal.

Neither of his parents seem interested in their food. His mother, a chuunin in her own right, isn’t the kind to wail or worry about her child’s safety. Shikamaru thinks her quiet is more disconcerting, since she’s looking at Shikaku, waiting for something.

He picks up a piece of grilled mackerel with his chopsticks, waiting for the inevitable trouble that his father is going to unleash on him. He chews slowly, enjoying the savory taste of fish while he can. Shikamaru recognizes this stillness for what it is: the calm before the storm.

Shikaku sets his chopsticks down neatly, before sighing. “Are you ready for today?”

Shikamaru would brush his father’s concerns off, but the set of Shikaku’s shoulders speaks of authority. At this moment, he’s not Shikamaru’s father. Shikamaru is sitting across from the Nara Clan Head.

“Am I?” Shikamaru asks, cocking an eyebrow of his own. His father is preparing to launch a grenade, and Shikamaru prefers to avoid walking right into it.

The glint in his father’s eyes is one of approval. “I had a visit from Tsunade-sama yesterday.”

Unlike most of his contemporaries, Shikamaru never speaks without thinking. If he’d been Naruto – or even a civilian like Sakura – he might give away far too much as his brain hits the wall of village politics. Shikamaru wishes his thoughts could be as lazy as the clouds rolling by on a beautiful summer day.

Tsunade has no business visiting his father. She’s of a different generation, and works in the hospital. His father is in charge of the jounin, and their paths shouldn’t have reason to cross. She’s theoretically retired as a field medicnin, but shinobi only truly retire when they are dead.

And sometimes not even then, if some of the stories of forbidden jutsu are to be believed.

Shikamaru heaves a sigh, realizing things are about to get troublesome. Shikaku wouldn’t be bringing this up the day of the Chuunin exam if it isn’t something Shikamaru needs to be aware of going in. 

Finally he sets his own chopsticks aside, steepling his fingers together in the way that helps him concentrate. It’s one of the beginning poses the Nara clan teaches its children, getting them used to using their hands so seals come more easily when it’s time to learn ninjutsu. 

“Was she after any specialized medicine?” he asks, since the Nara’s pharmacopoeia is the only excuse that immediately springs to mind. Tsunade is the pride of Konoha’s medicnin, and her return has energized the medical community… and the Nara family’s bottom line. Shikaku doesn’t handle the business, having more important duties to the village, but he _is_ clan head. 

“Ostensibly,” Shikaku said.

A nice thing about his father is that Shikaku lets Shikamaru think things through, giving him a chance to come to his own conclusions. Several times their conversations have given Shikaku different perspectives, and Shikamaru is moving into the role of trusted counselor.

He stares at his fingernails, trying to mentally walk his way through what is going on.

If Tsunade is making up reasons to visit, that means she is discussing something sensitive that she doesn’t want to be general knowledge. She had been gone from Konoha since before Shikamaru’s birth, and her sudden return is shaking the foundation of the village’s political structure.

People always have golden memories of “the good old days,” with time erasing the sharp, bloody edges of reality into something soft and golden and entirely fictional. Those who are dissatisfied are always eager to engage in nostalgia, and it is human nature to think the grass is greener on the other side.

Tsunade is the last of the Senju, the founding clan of Konoha. Now that she is back, people are whispering about how the leadership of the village should have come to her. Godaime has been gaining support in his own right, but he is still very young to be leading the oldest of the hidden villages. Perhaps he should step aside for a decade or so, and let the village be led by its natural heir.

Konoha’s other founding clan is the Uchiha, which has finally come to power in the personae of Godaime. But the Uchiha had never been popular, lacking the warmth and charisma that defined the Senju.

Like shogi tiles clacking across the board, Shikamaru can see the game at play. The ramifications trip through his head like a stone rolling downhill, gaining momentum as he reaches the inevitable conclusion.

“Is she thinking of staging a coup?” 

“It’s certainly occurred to her, but Tsunade isn’t the kind to start a civil war,” Shikaku replies. “But if she can gather enough support, Godaime is vulnerable.”

“Where do we stand?” 

_We_ doesn’t mean the Nara clan. _We_ means the triad of Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans. 

Intermarriages between the three clans are so common that sometimes, it’s best to see them as a single entity. They were together for centuries before the founding of Konoha. Together they form a perfect triangle, balanced sides making them strong and unbreakable. They are famous in the ninja world for producing the best surveillance teams for a reason.

And they always, always, always act as a block when it comes to village politics. Their unity makes them peers of the Uchiha, Senju, and Hyuuga.

“Inoichi prefers Itachi, though I’m not sure how much of that is because his daughter is pushing for a betrothal. Chouza leans toward Tsunade, but he’s not committed.”

Shikamaru has spent the last several years subjected to Ino’s infatuation with Godaime.  
The idea of Ino marrying for a clan alliance isn’t a new one, but the idea of marrying _Itachi_ is suddenly blazingly feasible.

He only lets the thought distract him for a moment. Chouza and Inoichi aren’t agreeing, which means his father will cast the deciding vote.

“That’s troublesome,” he said.

“Indeed. I have no love for the Uchiha, but Godaime has done a good job thus far, and we’re almost through the transition period.”

Shikamaru thinks carefully before he speaks. Just because he’s a child doesn’t mean he hasn’t been watching, and even the clan’s children are a part of the political puzzle. His father is viewing it as an either-or situation, but Shikamaru wonders if that is a logical fallacy. One can’t rely on only one path in a game of shogi, and politics are much the same.

“I don’t think the Uchiha have any love for Godaime-sama,” he says, getting to the heart of the issue.

His father raises an eyebrow. “It’s true that they haven’t been very visible under his regime, but he still is the first born son of the clan leader.”

“But not the named heir to the clan,” Shikamaru returns. “Sandaime served both roles.”

“The Sarutobi are a relatively small, insignificant clan. The head of the Uchiha Clan is also the Head of Konaha’s Military Police. Both are full time commitments, and no one could do both.” 

Shikaku’s rebuttal is sound, but Shikamaru knows his father is not shutting down the discussion. Rather, he is challenging Shikamaru to support his argument and address other possible interpretations.

“And you believe they may be distancing themselves until Godaime has a firmer grasp on the village,” Shikamaru says, thinking through things out loud. 

Shikaku knows the value of silence, and doesn’t immediately reply. That is the question underlying all of this: is the Godaime playing some deeper game, helping his clan gain even more power in Konoha, or is he following the vow of the Kage, putting the village above everything else?

Shikaku does not know the answer, Shikamaru realizes, and the meal he has eaten turns to cement in his stomach. He has always known that his father isn’t all-knowing or perfect, but Shikaku always seems to come to the correct conclusion. The idea that he might not _know_ in a matter this important is… troublesome.

But Shikamaru has access that Shikaku doesn’t, jounin-commander or no. 

Godaime never visited the academy after being named Sandaime’s apprentice. But before then, he had been a frequent visitor, picking up his adoring younger brother.

That had changed. Shikamaru may have slept his way through most of his classes, but it is impossible to notice how very unhappy the Godaime’s younger brother was.

“Sasuke hates his brother,” he says. “He may play cold, but he doesn’t hide his deeper emotions well.”

“It could be part of a distancing strategy.”

“No.” Shikamaru is certain he has read his former classmate right. “Theoretically, it would be a very clever ploy to have Godaime-sama pretend to be isolated from his family to avoid threatening the Senju faction, but Sasuke’s simply not that good an actor. He is furious at Godaime, and that kind of hatred can’t be faked.”

“There is something to be said of the Uchiha and a tendency toward fanatic hatred,” Shikaku replies, and they fall into quiet.

Shikamaru knows his father’s response is profound, and irritation swells inside since he doesn’t understand _why._

He hates not having all the facts. It makes for an incomplete picture, and it nags at him, just the way a single, too-thin cloud destroys an otherwise perfect blue sky.

The conversation turns as Yoshino rises to her feet. She is not a sentimental woman, but she is a smart one, perhaps the only intellectual equal his father has. The only reason she hadn’t contributed to the conversation was that Shikaku always discussed things with her first.

She knows when and how to _listen_ , and Shikaku will not move without her approval. 

“You don’t need to pass the exam,” Yoshino says. “In fact, you’ll be happier if you don’t.”

He nods, indicating that he understands. Failure is an option, since the exams are but a single battle in the never-ending war of clan survival.

“I’ll expect a report when you get back,” Shikaku adds, and Shikamaru understands the order. Good intelligence is the lifeblood of the Ino-Shika-Chou faction’s power, and his father will wait for Shikamaru’s report. He will like see both Sasuke and Godaime together, and be able to either confirm or reject his theory.

“Troublesome,” he mutters, because it’s always the perfect response to any request.

None of them mention that he could be coming home in a shroud.

Today is the Chuunin Exam. Shikamaru is now a soldier in the never-ending war that is shinobi politics. He is going to fight and be injured and possibly die.

Despite his inherent cynicism, Shikamaru is relatively confident that he will be coming home. Unlike most genin, he knows an essential truth: heroics are a luxury that a good shinobi can’t afford.

Above all, the Nara are survivors. That, more than anything, is the creed of his clan. 

Cowardice is not shameful; it’s a prerequisite to being able to live to fight another day. A dead ninja isn’t one that can try again at a more opportune moment. His mission is to keep his clan and teammates alive so they can keep going until they find success. 

His mission is at it always is: it will always be Clan first, and then Konoha.


End file.
